What Makes a Hero
by AeroneusPontifax
Summary: A joint mission to Wave, a strange mask infused with chakra and memories of a lost history. With the help of his friends and his unshakable determination, Naruto must learn from the past to secure a brighter future all the while finding out what it is that makes a hero. (Less dense!Naruto)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the rights to Naruto.

Ch. 1: Joint Mission to Wave

It was a bright and beautiful morning in Konoha, Hiruzen noted. He could hear the birds singing their beautiful melodies in the trees just beyond the open window and the smell of late summer drifted into the Mission Assignment Room with a gentle breeze.

Focusing his attention back to the inhabitants of the room the aged Hokage looked at the two teams assembled before him with amusement. Team Seven and Eight stood ready for assignment. Team eight more so. Kurenai stood behind her three students, all of them poised and every bit professional. Kakashi, however, stood with a lazy slouch as he received exasperated glares from the female Jonin.

The old man suppressed a chuckle. Similar to their sensei team seven also sported a somewhat laid back stance. Naruto had his hands behind his head as he impatiently waited for a new mission. Sasuke had his hands in his pocket and his eyes surveyed the village beyond the window. Sakura, unsurprisingly, was the only one standing at attention, albeit a little more lax then team eight. The pink haired kunoichi occasionally sent affectionate glances towards her raven haired teammate.

"It seems you are all quite anxious to get your next assignments," Hiruzen stated with mirth. Most of the gathered genin all seemed to become more serious. Naruto, however, flashed a wide grin towards the older shinobi. The hokage began rummaging through various scrolls looking for something suitable for the genin. "Let's see here," he said. "Painting fences, cleaning the armory... hmm, it seems Tora has escaped from his owner... again..."

"Actually," the Jonin instructors interjected simultaneously. They looked at each other before Kakashi bowed his head allowing Kurenai to speak first. She nodded in appreciation. "I was hoping to acquire a 'C' ranked mission for Team Eight," she said, earning a quiet 'yes!' from Kiba. "Their teamwork since forming a squad has been most exceptional and I feel that my team is ready to take on the challenges and duty that may come."

"Oh?" Hiruzen asked, quirking an eyebrow at the young woman. He shifted his gaze to the lazy Kakashi. He studied the man for a minute, reading his body language.

"And I take it you share the same feelings towards your own genin, Kakashi?" the Hokage noted. The masked man nodded in agreement, smiling behind the blue fabric.

"More or less, Hokage-sama," he stated plainly. His squad became rather exasperated at jab at their pride. "They're a little rough around the edges, but I'm sure that when the situation arises my genin will be up for the task. As such I would also like to request a 'C' ranked mission for Team Seven."

Kakashi's request elicited an excited 'yeah!' from the blond genin making Kiba's excitement from earlier look almost sardonic. Hiruzen chuckled to himself while looking over the two teams. Even in the short time since their graduation from the academy the old hokage couldn't help but be impressed by their progress. Setting aside the pile of 'D' ranked missions, the older man pulled out a single scroll and set it on the middle of the table.

"As unfortunate as it is," he began. "I have but one 'C' ranked mission left for today."

The older man looked between the young shinobi gathered before him and observed their reactions. Hinata and Sakura both looked rather pensive, no doubt figuring what the worst case scenario might be if the other team got the mission. Kiba and Naruto both looked ready to explode with anticipation. Shino and Sasuke remained neutral. The old Hokage decided he would have a spot of fun with the genin.

"In order to determine who shall get the mission I've decided that both your teams will have to fight for it," he said in a serious tone. "The winners gets the 'C' rank mission and the losers get a year's worth of 'D' ranks before they're eligible for another 'C' rank."

The collective outcries of 'WHAT!?' brought a great deal of amusement out of the aged man. He laughed at the expense of the two teams of genin. Said teams simply glared at the Hokage as they waited for him to compose himself.

"I'm only kidding of course," the Hokage said, wiping a tear from his eye. He hadn't laughed that well in a long time. "But that does raise a problem. I could just give one team the mission and have the other run lower ranked missions until another 'C' Rank comes up."

"Or," Hiruzen paused adding dramatic effect. The two groups waited anxiously for the Hokage's response. Naruto and Kiba were both fidgeting on their feet. "What I can do is split this mission into two 'D' Ranks and allow both teams to participate. It will go in your records officially as a 'C' Rank, but you will only be receiving 'D' Rank pay. Is this acceptable?"

The genin present deliberated amongst each other before responding with a collective 'Yes Sir!' The Hokage smiled at their enthusiasm. He opened the mission scroll and scribbled a few notes at the bottom and finished by signing it with his official seal.

"Team Seven and Team Eight, by order as Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves I hereby assign you both to a 'C' Ranked escort mission to the Land of waves," Hiruzen said with authority. Both teams, surprisingly, stood at attention and followed his every word. "As such your priorities are to transport, protect and assist your charge during the period for which you will be away. As it stands you will be away until Tazuna, your client, has completed his work on the bridge in the land of Waves."

The Hokage looked to one of the door guards and motioned for them to bring Tazuna into the room. Tazuna was a fairly old man with grey hair and goatee. He wore a faded black, almost greyish-brown, shirt and tannish khaki pants. He had a traveler's pack on his back and carried a rather impressive bottle of sake. The man observed the two teams and made a grunting noise.

"So they're the ones who're supposed to protect me?" he asked, unimpressed. "Don't really look like much… especially the small stupid looking one."

Naruto laughed at the insult looking for whoever it was Tazuna was mocking. Sudden realization dawned on him when he noticed that everyone else was staring at directly at him. The blonde's eye twitched as he nearly assaulted the bridge-builder.

"I'll kill him," Naruto exclaimed as he was held back by the rest of his team. Everyone had a laugh at the blonde's expense.

"I assure you," Kurenai stated with a hesitant laugh. "These genin may not look like much but they're more than able to keep you safe during your construction."

The aged Hokage cleared his throat garnering the attention of those present in the room. He looked at everyone with a stern and serious manner. Some would assume they were in trouble if not for the proud smile that went with his gaze.

"You all will be given an hour to prepare for your mission," he said. "Use this time to gather any weapons, tools or other rations and supplies you may need. Once you are ready you are to meet at the main gate. I wish you all good luck and stay safe. Look out for one another for you are proud Shinobi of Konoha. Do this and I guarantee that everything will be fine."

Everyone in the room stood at attention and bowed respectfully before the Hokage. "Thank you Hokage-sama," they said in unison. With a nod the two teams were dismissed and quickly left to prepare for their mission.

* * *

**A/N:** Well there we go, my first chapter of a plot bunny that has been running rampant in my head for a while now. Hopefully it wasn't too boring for a first chapter, the real meat of the story will, hopefully, start showing up soon. I'm going to shoot for a weekly update, if that doesn't happen then I'll probably have updates every other week. Until next time, take care.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the rights to Naruto.

Ch. 2: Skirmish on the Road

Naruto rummaged through his apartment looking for anything he deemed necessary for his expedition to the Wave country. Unfortunately for his travel pack it meant a lot of excess weapons, tools and survival gear the young genin didn't even know he had. To say that his home was a mess was an understatement. In his search for supplies the young teenager had haphazardly tossed about various odds and ends. Dirty laundry littered his hallway. A pair of briefs even managed to somehow get caught on his ceiling light.

"I see you've been busy," Naruto heard his former academy sensei quip from the window. Umino Iruka leaned against the window-sill smiling at the teenager's mess. The blond genin gave a goofy smile. He rubbed the back of his head and surveyed the catastrophe that was his room.

"I guess I made a mess of the place," Naruto said with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Among other things," Iruka said with amusement. The teacher observed the room and found his attention pulled to Naruto's travel pack. The poor bag was full to bursting with various weapons and tools. It was a wonder it hadn't torn at the seams. "How about I help you with that."

After entering through the open window Naruto and Iruka began the arduous process of sorting through the bag and removing all the unnecessary things. Being adamant about making sure he had extra weapons for any possible scenario Naruto refused to remove any of his weapons. With a sigh Iruka produced a small storage scroll, wrote the necessary seal and sealed the weapons within the scroll.

"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed. "How'd you do that?"

"Naruto, that's just a basic storage scroll. We had a lesson on that-" Iruka stopped himself mid-sentence. "Never mind, I forgot that you'd skipped that day. If I recall you completely tee-peed the Hokage's Tower. Do you even realize how much toilet paper you wasted?"

"Do you realize how hard I laughed when I saw jii-jii's face?" Naruto countered. The two shared a laugh before Iruka finished helping Naruto pack up. He showed the blonde the necessary seal for making the storage scroll and helped him figure out how much chakra was needed for the process. Flashing his old sensei a smile Naruto swung his pack on and adjusted his forehead protector.

"Thanks for helping me pack, Iruka-sensei."

"It's no problem," Iruka replied. "Just make sure you stay safe out there."

"I will," Naruto said before giving the academy teacher a hug. The older man returned the hug before returning to the school. After Iruka left Naruto created two kage bunshins and ordered them to clean up. The bunshins both gave a salute and went to their jobs after which he locked up his apartment quickly made his way to meeting place. Once he arrived at the gate he was assaulted with the memory of his bunshins finishing their cleaning before dispelling themselves.

"Huh, that's weird," he said to himself. He made a mental note to ask Kakashi if he knew if there was anything else concerning the kage bunshins he could use. "Now, time for some training!"

* * *

If there was one thing that Hyuuga Hinata prided herself in it was her punctuality. Whenever her team met for training she would always make sure to arrive early so as to get in some extra solo practice, away from the observation of others. The absence of spectators allowed her to focus and analyze herself without worrying about the judgement of others. To her surprise, however, this time she was not the first to arrive. Standing just outside the main gate was her like-time academy crush Uzumaki Naruto. Said blonde shinobi was in the process of going through some rudimentary taijutsu katas when he took notice of the dark haired girl.

"Ah, Hinata," he called out excitedly. Hinata, in response, tensed up. The shy girl quickly looked around for something to distract herself with, but it was too late. The blonde was quickly upon her and flashed his patented bright smile she loved so much. "I didn't think anyone else would show up this early. Were you planning on getting some last minute training in too?"

The girl nodded, not trusting her own voice. She fiddled with the hem of her jacket. The heat in her cheeks was becoming quite apparent and she prayed that her face wasn't too red.

"That's great," Naruto shouted excitedly. If it were possible his smile seemed to become even brighter. "In that case would you like to be my training partner until the others arrive?"

This was her chance, Hinata realized. This was the perfect opportunity for her to get closer to the blonde. It wasn't often that she'd get to spend any form of time alone together and training meant she could also get some work in to improve herself. With a vigorous nod she smiled as Naruto took her to a clearing just off to the side of the gate entrance.

They each took their respective stances, Hinata in her standard Jyuuken stance particular to the Hyuuga clan and Naruto in an improvised brawler's stance. Hinata was nowhere near being a taijutsu expert, yet even she noticed that Naruto had several openings present in his stance. They observed each other a moment longer before they charged at each other. Their exchanges were quick and in Naruto's case; wild.

Their engagements were simple. Naruto would swing with a heavy punch and Hinata would deflect it to the side. He'd follow through with a back-hand and she would evade. Sweep kick, side-step, roundhouse kick, dodge, left hook, right jab and over and over the two genin matched each other. Hinata noted that the blonde's style was sloppy. There was no finesse and every attack left large openings that any taijutsu specialist could exploit. Curious, Hinata attempted to press her advantage.

She threw out a series of basic jyuuken thrusts to test the waters, so to speak. Unsurprisingly, Naruto evaded every blow. She then started to increase the tempo. The blonde had excellent reflexes, she noted. Every one of her attacks were dodged or parried. The two lunged at each other one last time when they suddenly felt a hand chop fall onto each of their heads.

"That'll be enough of that," Kurenai said sternly. She and the rest of the teams had taken a spot near the edge of the clearing. She eyed the two genin with a disapproving yet still encouraging glace. "While I admire your fervor I need to have you both at one hundred percent for this mission. What would happen if we were attacked while on the road and you two were too tired to defend yourselves?"

"Aw c'mon," Naruto declared crossing his arms indignantly. "We were almost finished and it's not like we won't have any time to recover."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Kakashi-sensei usually shows up late. Like, really late."

"It's true," Sakura added from her spot with the rest of the group. "Sensei is usually at _least_ thirty minutes late for every mission."

"Well I'm sure Kakashi will understand the gravity of this mission," Kurenai said optimistically. She ushered Naruto and Hinata back to the rest of the group. They each set about their own tasks. Kiba talked animatedly with Shino about the potential dangers of their mission with Akamaru barking in agreement every so often. Shino, for his part, listened intently to his male teammate. Sakura had taken to discussing medical ointments with Hinata who was applying her own hand made salve to a few bruises she acquired during her spar with Naruto.

Said blonde had opted to take a page from Sasuke's book and sat away from the group and started practicing the basic storage scroll Iruka had shown him earlier. In true Sasuke fashion, the avenger had found a nearby tree to lean against to commence his brooding session. Kurenai, being the responsible Jonin that she was, took out a map and plotted the route they would take to Wave Country while marking down potential rest areas and camp sites.

* * *

One hour later.

* * *

'I'm going to kill him,' Kurenai thought darkly. She gripped the handle of a kunai tightly as she attempted to contain her rage. If it weren't for the fact that Kakashi had taken the responsibility of escorting Tazuna around the village they would have left the lazy man behind already. "Is your sensei always like this?"

"More or less," Naruto said unamused. He'd taken to juggling kunai to keep himself from going mad with boredom. Sasuke, still brooding against the tree, gave a grunt of affirmation with Naruto.

"He should be showing up any second now," Sakura added, playing with a strand of her hair.

"Who should be showing up when?" Kakashi asked as he joined the group with an exasperated Tazuna following behind him. The others simply stared at the masked Jonin for a brief moment before exploding into shouts of righteous indignation.

"Now that everyone is here," Kurenai started, shooting Kakashi a piercing gaze. "We're going to travel in a standard diamond formation. Kakashi will take point followed by Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba, if you hear or smell anything out of the ordinary let us know."

Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru gave a solid affirmative.

"Shino, you and Sasuke will follow behind them flanking Tazuna. His safety is your priority. Hinata and Naruto will be covering you from behind. Hinata make sure you do regular sweeps with your Byakugan to make sure we aren't caught off guard. I'll be bringing up the rear, are there any questions?"

Kakashi raised his hand tentatively.

"No Kakashi, you can't have rear guard duty," the female jonin answered dully. "If I can't trust you to show up on time then how can I trust you to keep pace?"

With the positions given and roles assigned Teams Seven and Eight set off on their Mission to the Wave Country.

"Are we there yet," Naruto asked tiredly. They'd been marching for nearly three days. Three days and still they'd yet to leave the borders of the Land of Fire.

"No, idiot, we aren't there yet," Sasuke replied irritably. "You've been asking that same question for the past hour, figure out something else to do."

Naruto scoffed at his teammates comment and went back to being bored out of his mind. Around him several others were occupying themselves with conversation. Tazuna had taken to telling Sakura about the Wave country. Kakashi was reading his favorite copy of Icha Icha Paradise. Kiba and Akamaru were having what seemed to be a one way conversation, at least that's how it looked to Naruto. With a sigh, the blonde looked over their surroundings. Trees, bushes, rocks and more of the same. An idea suddenly hit him.

"I spy with my eye-" he started.

"No!" Sasuke interrupted. "We are absolutely NOT playing I Spy."

"I-I wouldn't mind playing," Hinata interjected. Naruto turned and flashed her a big smile before returning his attention to the front.

"A traveling game would be a welcome change of pace," Shino added. Kiba and even Sakura, despite disagreeing with her crush, decided to take part in the game. Sasuke scoffed at everyone's juvenile behavior.

"As I was saying," Naruto began. "I spy something… green."

"Kakashi sensei's vest?" Sakura answered. The blonde genin flashed the pink haired girl an affirmative thumbs up, complimenting her quick thinking. "So I guess that means I'm next, then. I spy something... red."

It was Kiba's facial markings Shino pointed out, who in turn spied something orange. Hinata immediately answered with Naruto's jumpsuit. Said orange wearing genin made a vocal observation that the sunglasses wearing genin wasn't very good at the game. Hinata surveyed their area before stating the color white. After a minute of pondering Naruto settled on the lower half of the Uchiha symbol on Sasuke's shirt. Once again getting the right answer the blonde took a moment to think of something crafty to spy.

'A puddle?' he thought to himself. 'But it hasn't rained for a few days... that's perfect! If that's the case no one will think to look for a puddle.'

"I spy something blue," he declared smugly only to have his clever ruse ruined.

"A puddle," Kurenai stated clearly. The other members of the group caught note of the subtle warning. Hinata activated her Byakugan, Shino readied his beetles and Kiba and Akamaru each smirked.

"That's no fair," Naruto declared, oblivious to the warning. "You never said you'd be playing Kurenai-sensei!"

Just then two figures, each equipped with a metal gauntlet connected to each other by a long spiked chain, quickly emerged from the puddle followed by two smoke bombs going off obscuring vision from both ends of the group. The two enemy shinobi quickly made their way towards Shino, their closest target, encircling him with the chains. Just as the bladed links made contact with the Aburame the young man exploded into a cloud of beetles. The two fled from the cloud and attempted to engage Tazuna when Sasuke threw a kunai and pinned the chain to the ground, halting their advance.

"Damn it!" one of the assailants muttered. The two disengaged their chain from their gauntlets when from the smoke clouds came Kiba and Hinata ready to attack. The two should have been able to avoid both attacks, however they both felt a sudden sense of fatigue. That was when they felt the beetles crawling along their skin, eating away at their chakra. All the demon brothers could do was block the attacks as best they could.

"TSUUGA!" Kiba shouted as he began spinning rapidly towards one of the attackers. Hinata assaulted her own target with a quick jyuuken strike to the chest which was blocked by a gauntleted arm rendering the appendage useless. Each of the demon brothers were sent recoiling towards the tree-line. Quickly exchanging a look the two would-be assassins conceded defeat and fled into the forest, one last smoke bomb exploding to hide their escape.

"Not so fast!" Naruto shouted dashing into the forest in pursuit.

"Wait, Naruto. It's too dangerous," Kurenai shouted, but it was too late as the blonde genin vanished into the thicket.

"Wait for what, Kurenai-sensei?" the whiskered genin asked in response. Kurenai stared blankly at the boy for a second before realization dawned on her.

"Right, kage bunshins," she muttered to herself. The orange wearing shinobi grinned like an idiot only to recoil as if he took a blow to the face.

"Is something wrong?" Hinata asked tentatively.

"I'm fine," Naruto said with a reassuring grin. "But I can't say the same for my kage bunshin."

"What did your bunshin see," Kakashi asked in a serious tone. He eyed the trees carefully watching for any potential follow up attacks.

"Well, he managed to catch up to them," he started. "But before I could follow them any further he was attacked. It was weird though. It wasn't a kunai or anything like that. Before my bunshin dispelled it felt something like a needle hit him."

Kakashi gave Kurenai a wordless order then went back to his spot at the head of the formation. The genin present exchanged curious glances before following Kakashi's lead and retaking their positions.

"Alright everyone," Kakashi started. "We don't know how many more enemies may be waiting for us or just how dangerous this mission really is. But what I do know is that we can either keep going and risk serious injury, maybe even death or we can return to the village. For what it's worth, from what I saw of you all I think you guys will handle yourselves pretty well."

"As if there was ever a choice," Naruto proclaimed his chest swelling with pride. The others around him also gave eager responses. Nobody willing to back down from such an important mission.

"Alright then," the masked jonin replied with mirth. "Kurenai?"

"There should be an abandoned outpost not too far from here," she explained. "If we hurry we can reach it before nightfall with enough time to fortify."

"Sounds like a plan. Naruto, send a couple of bunshins to scout ahead," the leader of team seven ordered. "If anything is out of the ordinary I want to know."

Naruto saluted and followed command. After taking stock of supplies everyone steeled themselves and proceeded to the outpost as quickly as they could. The rest of the journey was surprisingly uneventful. True to Kurenai's prediction they arrived just as the sun began to set. The outpost itself was dilapidated from years of being unused and left to the elements. There were only a handful of buildings left in various states of decomposition. Sections along the perimeter wall had fallen, vines grew along the cracked walls and various small animals could be seen scurrying about the small compound.

The two teams set up camp in a large enough building to facilitate them. It was also one of the only buildings still structurally secure enough to double as a defensible location. Kakashi and Kurenai went about deciding who would take what shift as the genin went about setting up their bed rolls.

"Okay everyone," Kurenai announced to the genin. "We'll be taking turns keeping watch with two hour intervals. Kakashi and Sakura will be taking first watch. Shino and Sasuke will be after them followed by myself and Kiba. Naruto, you and Hinata will have final watch. Understood?"

Once everyone gave an affirmative Kakashi and Sakura left the room to keep watch. As Naruto laid in his bedroll he couldn't help the feeling that something was off. Shoving the thought to the back of his mind the blonde turned onto his side and closed his eyes. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

* * *

**A/N:** And there we have it. Took a little longer than what I liked, but school and work tend to delay what I want to do. Now that the semester is over though I can hopefully make some headway with this story. The first story arc is honestly going to be the most difficult for me since I have to set up a lot of later events, but once I truck through that it should be easy sailing. Right now there are only a handful of changes, but some drastic alterations are going to take place soon. As for Naruto being dense, I do feel he should start out pretty dumb, but he'll gradually get better. Anyway, that should be enough for now. Hopefully the next update won't take as long. Later!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the rights to Naruto.

Ch. 3: Calm Before the Storm

The night was quiet, Kakashi noted. There was an occasional cricket chirp or some other nocturnal creature, yet other than that it was silent. A gentle breeze would rustle the trees but the masked jonin still couldn't shake the unease that filled him. 'The calm before the storm,' he thought darkly to himself. Years working in the ANBU had given him a sort of sixth sense concerning danger. He looked to the sleeping genin in the room they'd secured for the night and wondered if he had the ability to keep them safe.

"Is something wrong, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked quietly. She sat next to the small fire they made in the hearth at the center of the room. The pink haired girl looked to have a lot on her mind even as she attempted to stave off her fatigue.

"No, just thinking about nothing in particular," he half-lied. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

Sakura stared at the flame pensively for a moment before letting out a sigh. "I was pretty useless back there today," she said dejectedly, resting her head on her knees. "I mean even Naruto managed to be useful. I just stood there like a scared mouse."

"Is that what this is about," he said with amusement causing the girl to pout in disdain. "You've been a genin for how long now... two, almost three months? Yet, in that short time you've already faced your first chunin ranked enemy. Do you know how long most genin take to actually get into a situation involving enemy shinobi, let alone chunin?"

"But everyone else managed to hold their own," she said dejectedly.

"Are you from a prominent shinobi clan?" Kakashi asked.

"No..."

"Do you aspire to be Hokage one day?"

"Not really..."

"Then there's no problem," he said plainly. When she looked at him curiously the masked jonin flashed her an eye smile. "Kiba, Shino, Hinata and Sasuke are all from important shinobi clans. I'm willing to bet that they've been trained in the ninja arts since they could walk. And Naruto? He dreams of being Hokage one day, so he pushes himself as hard as he can and refuses to back down from a challenge even at the cost of his own safety. But you? Right now you are at a point in your career as a kunoichi where you must decide for yourself what exactly it is you want. No matter what it is you decide on know that you are as capable to perform your duties as well as any of the others."

Sakura smiled and thanked Kakashi for the pep talk and let out a tired yawn. "Go ahead and get some sleep," Kakashi said. "I'll go ahead and wake up the next watch."

Nodding in agreement, Sakura crawled into her bed roll and fell asleep. As Kakashi prepared to wake up Shino and Sasuke, he steeled himself and made a promise that no matter what would come he'd give his all to ensure that these genin would be able to reach their potential. Even if it meant giving up his own life. 'Because that's what it means to be an instructor. Isn't that right, sensei?'

* * *

Naruto was having a pleasant dream. He was sitting in the main office of the Hokage's tower wearing his Hokage's hat while performing Hokage-like duties -such as suddenly fighting off swarms of enemy shinobi that came crashing through the windows while he simultaneously rode a large dragon. Dreams were strange, ever changing things he noted. The sky in his dream suddenly darkened. A single foreboding light shined onto him and from the heavens descended a large, golden, wriggling mass of living ramen.

"No, flying ramen monster," Naruto muttered in his sleep, fidgeting lightly. "I've ever been your faithful servant... please have mercy!"

The blonde suddenly woke up with a start. There sitting on his chest was Akamaru, Kiba's dog. His tongue was lolling and his tail was wagging happily and Naruto realized that the tentacle-like appendages of the flying ramen monster was in reality the little dog licking his face to wake him. He wiped off the dog's saliva with his shirt's sleeve.

"Guess it's my turn to take watch then," Naruto muttered tiredly. Akamaru barked in confirmation. Once the small nin-dog scampered off of him Naruto sat up and stretched out his back. After finishing his stretches the blonde threw his jacket on and left the room as quietly as he could. Once outside he was greeted by a somewhat tired looking Hinata.

"Good morning," he said jovially. Despite being woken up early the energetic Uzumaki was already wide awake. Rubbing the last remnants of sleep from her eyes, Hinata responded with a 'Good morning' of her own, albeit in a less energetic manner. After exchanging pleasantries the two began patrolling their makeshift camp. Every so often the white-eyed girl would activate her Byakugan and scan the surroundings. The activation of her kekkei genkai piqued the blonde's interest.

"What's that you're doing," he asked plainly, catching the girl off guard.

"I-I'm surveying the surroundings," she answered, suddenly finding her fingers to be quite interesting. Naruto looked to the tree-line squinting his eyes in an attempt to make out anything. He saw nothing but the darkness of night.

"How can you seen anything out there?" he asked. Hinata tensed at the sudden focus on her eyes.

"W-well, it's because of my Byakugan," she explained quietly. She turned her fidgeting to her hood-string as she attempted to distract herself from the blonde's attention. "By focusing chakra to my eyes my kekkei genkai allows me to amplify my sight. I can see in low light, at long distances, even in almost three-hundred and sixty degrees. The most sought after aspect of the Byakugan, however is its ability to see both chakra and its network."

"That's incredible!" Naruto declared. Hinata's expression seemed to turn crestfallen at the compliment.

"That's hardly true," she said sadly. "Among my clan my byakugan is considered the weakest."

"Then that's even better," he replied. When Hinata looked at him curiously he explained further. "That just means that as amazing as your eyes are now, just imagine what they'll be like when you get stronger."

'Of course Naruto would look at it like that,' she thought to herself. Hinata stopped in her tracks and smiled softly. 'He never lets anyone or anything get him down. Even in the academy he would always get up and try harder.'

When Naruto noticed Hinata had fallen behind he turned to see her looking at the moon. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked tentatively. Hinata shook her head and fell back into step with the blonde. There she decided that as long as just one person believed in her she would keep trying to improve herself, to push herself beyond her limits. The two continued their patrol around the camp occasionally talking about mundane topics.

"Oh, hey," Naruto suddenly said, pointing to the east. "It looks like the sun is starting to rise."

"I guess we should start waking the others then," Hinata added. They were about to do just that when a glint of light caught Naruto's attention. When he found the source he discovered that it was the corner of something buried in the dirt. "I wonder what it could be," he said as he dug it out."

When the object was finally retrieved the two noted that it was a wooden box with metal bindings. There was a plain metal plate on what they assumed was the front of the box. When Naruto attempted to open the object he discovered that it was locked shut.

"Well that's strange," he said as he turned the box every which way. There were audible clunks coming from inside the object. "It's locked but there's no key-hole."

Hinata then activated her byakugan and inspected the box more carefully. "Odd," she said. "I can't seem to see inside of it."

What she did see, however, was a series of faint chakra signatures engrained into the wood itself.

"Maybe Kakashi-sensei or Kurenai-sensei can figure something out," Naruto suggested as he tucked the box under his arm. Once everyone was woken up the blonde presented the mysterious object to his instructor. The cyclopean jonin inspected the wooden container, brushing aside dirt and running his fingers along any indentations for any clue to what it was. After wiping a clump of dirt from the bottom of the container Kakashi noticed a single symbol engraved into the wood: a spiral. 'But how,' he thought to himself. 'They were wiped out years ago and we're too far south for anything of theirs to be here.'

"Naruto, why don't you go ahead and help the others disable the traps," Kakashi ordered as he continued fiddling with the box. "I'm gonna keep working on getting this thing opened."

Naruto nodded and left the room leaving Kakashi alone with Tazuna, Kurenai and the box. The masked jonin lifted up his headband revealing his Sharingan eye and looked at the box more thoroughly. To his astonishment there were a multitude of subtle seals drawn using chakra. 'Blood seal linked to a locking seal, privacy seal linked with a durability seal... whatever is in this thing it must be very important,' he thought to himself.

"I take it that it's more than just a tool box," Kurenai probed. Tazuna, to his credit, stood at the entrance leaning against the wall. 'All this ninja crap is beyond me,' he thought to himself.

"Until I can get it opened and see what's inside, that's all that it is," Kakashi said covering his sharingan. "A very important tool box with its contents securely sealed, but a tool box nonetheless."

After getting up, Kakashi dusted off his pants and swung his travel pack onto his back. Together the three adults left to meet with the genin outside to resume their journey. After returning the box to Naruto, Kakashi told the blonde to keep it safe and that they would look into it when they returned to Konoha.

"Alright everyone," Kurenai started. "It's about a day's travel to Tazuna's home. If we hurry we can reach the docks before noon and arrive at our destination before nightfall. We may still be targeted so stay alert."

The genin present all acknowledged the order and returned to their formation unknown to the danger that was approaching.

* * *

In a hidden base located in the wave country Momochi Zabuza sat on a chair; Kubikiribocho, his executioner's blade, was propped next to him. Before the former Mist ninja, the Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu, were finishing their report of their failed assassination of Tazuna.

"And you're sure it was him?" Zabuza questioned. He eyed to two subordinates carefully gauging their reactions. His disappointment over their failure was outweighed by his interest in the information they returned with.

"Yes, Zabuza-sama," Meizu replied. "His appearance matched that of the entry in the bingo book for Hatake Kakashi."

"And there was a Hyuuga amongst them," Gozu added as he rubbed his still numb arm. "She is just a child, but I'm sure Kumo would pay a hefty price for her."

There was a pause in the room as Zabuza ran through the information. The bounty for Kakashi of the Sharingan was quite substantial from Iwa and a Hyuuga could grant them some sway with Kumo for their eventual coup d'état against Kiri. Suddenly, from out of the shadows a masked figure appeared. He wore a teal haori over a worn tanned outfit. The figure inclined his head towards Zabuza as if posing a question.

"I know how you feel about this," the older man stated. "But Gozu is right. We _will _need the money if we ever want to take Kiri."

Zabuza looked at his subordinates and laid a mental plan in his head. Before he could give his commands a short, balding man with a pencil mustache barged into the room followed closely by his two body-guards.

"What the hell!" the short man yelled. He was red-faced with anger as he approached the seated shinobi. "I pay you to do one simple job: kill the bridge builder. So why is it that my boys tell me you failed?"

Zabuza leveled the angry little man with a glare that immediately shut him up. He stood up from his seat and towered over the man with his full height. His imposing stance left no room for negotiation.

"It's a minor setback," Zabuza stated. He grimaced at his employer with disdain. If it weren't for the obscene amount of money Gato was paying them he and his group would have left long ago. "You're precious bridge builder will meet his end, make no mistake, but don't believe for a second that you hold sway over us just because we're under your employment."

Gato glared up at Zabuza with impotent fury. He clenched his fists and grit his teeth before muttering out an agitated compliance. "Just get it done," he muttered as he left. The bandaged missing-nin glared at the door.

"Meizu, you're to accompany me," he ordered. Meizu bowed his head in respect to his leader's wishes. "Gozu, you're to stay behind. You're useless to me with your arm injured as it is. Haku I want you to tend to his injuries and proceed to meet up with us. If things go awry with our next attack you're to extract us."

"Understood, Zabuza-sama," Haku responded from behind his mask. Zabuza retrieved Kubikiribocho from its spot against the seat and singlehandedly swung the massive blade over his shoulder and into its sheath on his back. Together with Meizu, the two former Kiri shinobi made their way to intercept team 7 and 8.

* * *

"I'm gonna die," Kiba groaned as the boat rocked against the waves of the sea. Akamaru whimpered at his masters side worried about his sea-sickness. Naruto was laughing at the sick boy's dismay with Hinata and Sakura fighting back giggles of their own.

"Oh, quit overreacting," Kurenai scolded. "You act like you've never been on a boat before."

"But I haven't," came Kiba's pitiful reply as he emptied the contents of his stomach one last time before they reached the shore. Once on land the Inuzuka heir fell to his hands and knees and kissed the solid soil beneath him. "Sweet dirty land," he said as he regained his composure.

"It shouldn't be long now," Kakashi said, taking point once again. He looked over his shoulder to check on everyone and noticed that Naruto looked somewhat irritable. "Something wrong, Naruto?"

"I don't know," he said plainly, his arms crossed behind his head. "Something just feels… off?"

"Maybe it's an enemy," Kiba said enthusiastically. He and the blonde exchanged grins of excitement.

"As cool as that would be, I doubt it," Naruto replied. "Because even if it was he'd never get the drop on ME!" he yelled as he threw a kunai into an unassuming bush. When he revealed the would-be assailant he felt slightly embarrassed by the fact that it was actually a rabbit.

"Nice going nimrod," Sasuke complimented sarcastically. Just as he was about to continue his insult Kakashi yelled for everyone to get down just in time to, literally, save everyone's necks. A massive sword flew through the air, narrowly missing its target, and embedded itself into a tree. A tall figure then appeared on the handle of the massive broadsword.

"I'll be taking the bridge builder's head now," Zabuza demanded. He turned and met the teams with a menacing glare. "And yours as well, Kakashi of the Sharingan. If you would be so kind."

"Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Formerly of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist. I'm afraid I'll have to object to both of those requests."

"You say that as if you have any choice," Meizu said form behind the two teams, now equipped with two metal gauntlets. He giggled wickedly from behind his breather. "And the white-eyed girlie, too. I'm sure Kumo would be grateful to finally get their hands on a Hyuuga."

Said girl took a step back, her eyes full of fear at the mention of the Cloud village. Hinata was on the verge of panicking when Kurenai stepped between her and the lone demon brother. "You'll have to get through me first," she declared angrily.

"We'll handle these two," Kakashi ordered, lifting his headband to reveal his sharingan. The crimson eye shocked Sasuke.

"Stay close to Tazuna," Kurenai added taking a kunai into each hand and taking a defensive stance. "Whatever happens make sure to keep him safe."

The six genin each took a position around the bridge builder. Even Hinata, terrified as she was, took up a fighting stance in preparation for what was to be their first exposure to a life or death battle between elite ninja.

"Then let us begin," Zabuza declared with a wicked grin.

* * *

**A/N:** And there we have it. Chapter three, the set-up for round one of the big first fight. I was hoping to get to the Kakashi/Zabuza fight this chapter but I got a little carried away with some exposition. I want to keep my chapters somewhere between the 2500 and 3500 word marks, lets me get them out faster. I've been mulling over the results of the Wave mission and I'm not sure whether to keep Zabuza alive or not. I really enjoy his character and would like to explore it, but he's not really relevant to my overall plot. Next chapter should be the climax of the journey to Wave, and the story arc should finish up sometime around chapter 7ish, 8 or 9 at the latest. Anyway, until next time. Later people.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to Naruto.

Ch. 4: Life or Death

Kakashi and Zabuza studied each other for a long moment, neither moving a muscle, each mentally predicting the other's first attack. Being a seasoned jonin and former ANBU Kakashi knew not to underestimate his opponent, especially a former member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the mist. His sharingan slowly spun as he analyzed the swordsman's movement. Zabuza suddenly stepped off of his sword's handle and swung off of the tree, dislodging the blade in the process. In a single smooth motion he brought the sword baring down on the silver-haired jonin. Kakashi, realizing the close proximity to Tazuna, quickly flew through a series of hand-signs before slamming his hands onto the ground.

"DOTON: DORYUU HEKI!" Kakashi shouted, creating a large pillar of earth that launched itself towards the former Kiri-nin. Adjusting himself in midair, Zabuza used the rapidly approaching rock pillar as a springboard and launched himself back towards the surface of a nearby lake. Meanwhile Kurenai had taken to the offensive, assaulting the lone demon brother with quick slashes from her kunai. Meizu, to her amazement, managed to stave off every assault she made, deflecting her kunai with his metal gauntlets. After evading under another slash to his jugular, Meizu quickly rolled away to gain some distance and swung a gauntleted arm at the woman, a long chain emerging from a slot beneath the wrist. Kurenai ducked under the bladed chain and quickly noted a second one bearing down on her from overhead. Leaping back, she narrowly avoided the second chain and quickly pinned it to the ground with one of her kunai.

"Don't think I'll fall for that again," Meizu exclaimed, knocking the kunai away with his free chain. The two chains hung freely at his sides. The two calculated each other's movements before moving into action. Kurenai smiled when Meizu dashed at her. The woman smiled as two chains closed in on her from opposite directions. As they made contact, however, the black haired woman fazed into smoke. When she next appeared there were two of her. When he swung at them they too dissipated into the air only to be replaced by four more, then eight, then sixteen and then Meizu realized that he had been caught in a genjutsu. He reached up to his breather and pressed a button causing several needles within to pierce his skin, breaking the illusion. He was suddenly sent sprawling to the ground from a powerful kick to the face. Blood oozed from the edges of his mask.

Seeing Meizu having difficulty with his fight, Zabuza formed a couple of hand-signs from atop the water. "Kirigakure no jutsu," he said. A large area of dense mist enveloped all the combatants obscuring their vision and putting them on edge. There was a sinister laugh that echoed through the mist yet no one could pinpoint the origin of the laugh.

"Stay alert everyone," Kakashi warned. He searched through the mist for any clue as to where the missing-nin would attack next all the while being taunted by Zabuza's disembodied voice. He listed vital organs he could target, various limbs he could easily dismember and several methods with which to torture them with. To say that the genin were terrified was an understatement.

"Don't worry," the masked Konoha shinobi reassured. "I will protect you."

No sooner had he finished that sentence, Zabuza appeared in the middle of the group of genin. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Kakashi sped towards the enemy shinobi. With lightning quickness he closed the gap, tackled the former mist jonin and plunged a kunai deep into Zabuza's chest. The impact was enough to surprise the genin causing them to stumble away. The supposedly wounded man laughed before bursting into a puddle of water.

"Sensei, behind you!" Sakura shouted, but it was too late. Zabuza, taking advantage of Kakashi's mistake, brought his sword crashing down onto the leaf jonin, cutting through him like paper. The pink haired girl nearly screamed in abject horror until she realized that the Kakashi that was bisected transformed into a puddle of water. The real Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza, a kunai held firmly against the man's neck.

"It's over now," Kakashi stated. He pressed the kunai deeper into the missing-nin's neck only to have Zabuza chuckle darkly. "Indeed it is," he replied. Kakashi suddenly became aware of the presence behind him and narrowly avoided being cut down with the mizu bunshin. Before he could retaliate Zabuza spun using the momentum of his swing to deliver a powerful kick that launched Kakashi into the lake. As he surfaced Kakashi found himself before the masked kiri shinobi. "Suirou no jutsu," Zabuza said encasing the silver haired jonin in a sphere of water.

Meanwhile, Kurenai was having troubles of her own. With the mist now obscuring her vision she was having difficulty staving off the lone demon brother. His sinister chuckles would come from one direction only to have the bladed chain come from another. Before long the black haired woman found herself covered with several cuts. From the corner of her vision she caught a glimpse of Meizu as he quickly circled the woman, however, when she focused on the man her vision began to blur and her body felt strangely heavy. 'A poison?' she thought to herself.

The woman fell to her hands and knees. Her breathing became ragged and shallow. Reaching into her tool pouch Kurenai pulled out a syringe with a standard anti-toxin. Jamming the needle into her thigh she injected the chemical into her bloodstream hoping for the best. It would take a while for the anti-toxin to take effect and in the meantime the two teams of genin were at the mercy of the demon brother. 'Damn it all,' Kurenai thought to herself. All she could do was watch as Meizu made his way towards the two teams.

"Now that she's out of the way," the gauntlet wearing shinobi chuckled. "The bridge-builder and the girl, if you please. I promise to make your deaths quick and painless, unlike your sensei here."

As terrified as they were each of the genin present held their positions. "Over my dead body," Kiba yelled. Meizu laughed at the response and lunged at the small group, muttering a foreboding 'as you wish' as he did. Quickly he smashed his gauntleted hand into Kiba's side sending him into his male teammate. Shino and the canine shinobi crashed into a nearby tree with a sickening thud. Seeing an opening, Sasuke dashed towards the former mist chunin with a kunai readied. Meizu promptly kicked the Uchiha genin back to his spot with such force it left the boy gasping for air. Sakura knelt down next to her injured teammate ready to defend him.

"Now you get to deal with me," Naruto chuckled as he stepped before Meizu. He had a cocky grin and showed no fear. The demon brother smiled wickedly at his bravado. He lifted his arms and swung his bladed chains at the blonde. Without hesitation Naruto grabbed each of the chains with a death-grip. The blades dug into his palms, blood trickling onto the dirt road. Meizu frowned at the turn of events. The masked chunin swung his chains in an attempt to shake the genin off but to no avail. With every pull and every swing Naruto kept his grip firm. Whenever he'd be yanked into the dirt he'd get back to his feet making sure to keep the chain taut.

"Now I have you," Naruto said mischievously. Meizu suddenly became aware of the two blonde bunshins charging after him from his peripherals. 'Bunshin?' he thought bemusedly. His amusement was quickly replaced by pain when the bunshins each punched him powerfully in the sides. The sudden shock was enough for Naruto to pull the chain full force and overpower the chunin, causing the older man to stumble forward.

"Now Hinata," the blonde yelled and Meizu finally noticed the Hyuuga girl charging for him, her hands pulled back and ready to deliver a fierce jyuuken strike. Mustering all of his strength the demon brother pulled his gauntleted arms up to block the attack. Hinata thrust her hands forward, forcing her chakra into Meizu's arms. The man stumbled back, his arms now slack from the blow and he cursed as Shino, Kiba and Sasuke recovered from their injuries.

"We'll handle things from here," Kiba said irritably, brushing the bit of dirt from his clothes. Shino adjusted his sunglasses and followed beside his teammate. The two stalked closer to Meizu, each prepared to return the injuries they'd received twofold. "You all figure out a way to help Kakashi-sensei," the bug user suggested. The masked former-kiri chunin was about to retreat when he felt a sharp pain in the calf of his leg. When he checked his wound he found Akamaru biting into his flesh with an iron grip.

With Meizu preoccupied with Kiba, Akamaru and Shino the others were able to focus on their most important task. Zabuza observed the four rookies with mild approval. "Tenacious little runts, I'll give you that," the former mist jonin complimented. From the water prison he could hear Kakashi mutter an amused 'you have no idea'. He watched the four carefully. Naruto turned to each of the others sending them a wordless signal. He reached into his travel pack and began tossing a few items about before he finally found what he was looking for. The blonde produced a single scroll and unsealed several large windmill shuriken.

"And Iruka-sensei said I wouldn't need these," he remarked as he distributed a shuriken to his teammates. They each unfurled the large shuriken, Sakura questioning where the blonde even managed to gather such weapons. His grin never left his face as he replied with an 'it's a secret,' and immediately threw his shuriken, Sasuke and Sakura following shortly after. Zabuza watched as the three windmill shuriken sped towards him but was wholly unimpressed by such a straight forward tactic. The tall man swung his sword deflecting each of the shuriken. It was after he deflected the third when he noticed that two more had been following behind. 'That was a very poorly done kage shuriken no jutsu," Zabuza thought as he deftly leapt over the two shuriken. As he reached the apex of his jump he heard a sudden popping noise. Eyes wide with realization, Zabuza looked behind him to see the two kage bunshins that bested Meizu each throw kunai at his back. Left with only one option, the former mist jonin removed his hand from the sphere of water and deflected the kunai. He proceeded to distance himself from the collapsing water prison and the now freed copy-ninja. With deft hand Kakashi grabbed the deflected kunai and readied a defensive stance.

"Don't think I'm going to be making that mistake again any time soon," Kakashi said plainly. The two jonin eyed each other, Zabuza's gaze far more irritable than the silver haired shinobi's. The shinobi swordsman weighted his options; he could potentially kill the copy-nin, but most likely at the cost of his own life. Meizu was too injured to continue the mission. There was only one option yet even retreat seemed difficult with the copy-nin back in action. With no other escape, the former mist jonin began flowing through a string of hand-seals. As soon as Kakashi saw Zabuza begin forming his jutsu, he dropped the kunai and began copying the bandage wearing man.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" they both shouted simultaneously. From the lake two colossal dragons made of water emerged. The two serpents twisted around the other before finally colliding head on creating a massive downpour of water. Amidst the falling water the two clashed once again, each blocking the other's attacks perfectly. After another brief exchange the two separated and Zabuza made a hand-seal only to notice Kakashi making the same exact seal. 'It's as if he's-'

"Reading my mind?" Kakashi finished. Zabuza eyed the sharingan user angrily. 'Genjutsu?' he wondered briefly. "It's not genjutsu," Kakashi answered with a hint of arrogance. This set the former mist shinobi off.

"Get out of my head!" he shouted furiously. He formed a single seal when Kakashi suddenly made the same and completed the sequence beforehand. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Kakashi shouted. The former mist swordsman found himself quickly engulfed by a massive torrent of water. The surge quickly swept him ashore, crashing him into the bank and slamming him roughly against a tree. He slumped to the ground, his body drenched, sore and bruised. The masked swordsman's breathing was haggard and shallow. Zabuza gritted his teeth, his grip on his sword tightened. Just as he was about to get to his feet the battered man felt two long senbon drive through his neck and everything went dark.

A masked figure bearing the Kirigakure emblem suddenly appeared next to the downed body of Zabuza carrying the body of the lone demon brother. 'A hunter-nin?' Kakashi thought curiously. The hunter dropped the body unceremoniously next to the former mist swordsman and bowed towards Kakashi in appreciation. "You have my gratitude," the man said. "I've been tracking these two for weeks. Taking them myself would have been quite a chore."

"It's no problem," Kakashi replied. As the two conversed Naruto couldn't help but shake the familiar feeling he was having. It was like something he had felt before, a sort of nagging sensation at the back of his mind that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Before he could follow the train of thought further Kiba, Shino and Kurenai rejoined the group, Kurenai looking a little worse for wear.

"I see you guys managed to free Kakashi-sensei," Kiba remarked, Akamaru barked in mild approval. The three were bruised but wholly intact. The female jonin had taken to leaning on Hinata and Sakura for support.

"You guys have any trouble," Sakura questioned. The two boys of team eight shook their heads no. "Not really, although for a guy who couldn't use his arms that demon brother guy was still a bit of a handful" Kiba added. "This guy showed up shortly after you guys went to help Kakashi-sensei. Jammed a couple of senbon right through the guy's neck then, bam, guy's dead as a doornail. It was actually kind of impressive if not a little boring."

The two teams spent the remainder of their time tending to their wounds while the Hunter-nin prepped the bodies of Zabuza and Meizu for transport. Once he was set he bade the Konoha shinobi farewell and disappeared via shunshin. "Okay everybody," Tazuna started. "It isn't too far from the village now. Assuming that's the worst of it we should be good for the rest of the way. I'll have Tsunami set up a room for you all to recuperate in once we get there. "The two teams nodded in agreement and continued the final leg of their journey, Kakashi and Kurenai being supported by the genin for the remainder of the trip.

* * *

They arrived at a small village that was just outside the main hub of the city where the construction was taking place. Tazuna's home in particular was a quaint place with two floors and a decently sized stream that cut through the front yard. A small bridge led from the road to the front porch where Tsunami was busy folding laundry. When the woman noticed the group her face lit up with a smile, waving the two teams over. Once everyone had introduced themselves, some with more enthusiasm than others; mainly Naruto and Kiba, Tsunami arranged a room for the visitors to occupy for the remainder of their stay in Wave country.

Once everyone was settled into their rooms, women in one and men in the other, they were all called to the dining room for dinner. It was a simple meal consisting of fish, rice and some steamed vegetables. Naruto poked at the colorful array of peppers and assorted beans with his fork. "It's okay Naruto," Kakashi teased. "I know it's not ramen but it's still good."

The blonde pouted as everyone enjoyed a laugh at his expense. He proceeded to practically inhale his food as quickly as he could to avoid the inevitable taste of something he would potentially not like. To his surprise it was actually quite good. The rest of the meal went by peacefully. There was light conversation between Tsunami and the genin, mostly about what their training consisted of and other questions the woman could come up with. During the meal Kiba had taken to playing with a toothpick. He would twirl it between his fingers and perform other little tricks. Naruto was taking a drink of water when he saw Kiba flick the wooden object at Sasuke like a senbon. The toothpick found its mark and stuck the Uchiha boy in the neck. Sudden realization dawned on the blonde causing him to spray his drink at the dark haired avenger. He stood quickly from his chair, eyes wide.

"That hunter-nin was the guy who stabbed me!" He yelled, earning a few curious gazes and on very angry one from a certain Uchiha teammate. "We know," the jonin instructors stated. Naruto deflated at the dismissal of his sudden revelation by the adults. Kurenai and Kakashi exchanged a look and nodded to each other.

"We were actually going to discuss this tomorrow," Kurenai started. "Kakashi and I felt that you all deserve a good night's rest without having to worry about what could be out there."

"However, since the cat's out of the bag," Kakashi said with Akamaru barking at the mention of cats. "We've decided to begin training you first thing in the morning to prepare you for future encounters."

The genin all became excited about the notion of learning something new. Naruto and Kiba whooped in excitement with the others being more subdued. The two jonin instructors were bombarded with questions. 'Is it going to be a cool new jutsu?', 'Will it be something genjutsu related?', 'Will it be anything related to medical jutsu?' and so on. Kakashi held his hands out in a placating manner, settling the genin down.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," He said earning a look from Tazuna. "So to speak. In the meantime, finish your meals and then get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a big day."

* * *

**A/N: **Another chapter down. Hopefully the wait is worth it. Unfortunately, however, combat seems to be my kryptonite. It took me a good while to figure out how I wanted the Zabuza encounter to be coordinated. Something to improve on I suppose. Hopefully I'll get better by the time the chunin exams come around. Next chapter begins the chakra control exercises as well as the secret of the mysterious box. Enjoy.


End file.
